Your partner for a low carbon future
Capturing lessons learnt helps improve how Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund funding is designed and delivered, both for grant recipients delivering in Wave 2 and in future waves.
It’s encouraged to complete both the project evaluation report and the lessons learnt report at the same time. The prompts below can be used to guide both reports, helping you reflect meaningfully and streamline your reporting process.
Although you don’t have to complete every prompt, they’re here to guide your reflection and reporting.
Key considerations include:
Documenting these incrementally throughout project delivery makes it easier to complete your lessons learnt log and report template and help the department shape better guidance, reduce barriers and highlight good practice for others to follow.
For each lesson, consider:
Set the scene for your lessons learnt by describing your project and the context of your reflections.
Why we’re asking: a quick summary helps others understand your project and its key outcomes without reading every detail.
Why we’re asking: this helps us place your lessons in the right context.
Reflect on how your internal planning, data and team setup supported or challenged delivery.
Why we’re asking: we want to know where the scheme rules and guidance supported you and where they could be made clearer, so they work better for future waves.
Why we’re asking: staffing levels and skills are key to delivery. By understanding where things worked well and where they were stretched, we can help future projects plan better.
Why we’re asking: property selection and planning are often slow points but some teams find ways to make them smoother.
Why we’re asking: good data can speed up planning and prevent surprises. We want to understand what worked and where there were gaps.
Reflect on how you worked with residents, utilities and suppliers to keep the project moving.
Why we’re asking: resident buy‑in can make or break a project. Sharing what worked well helps others avoid problems and build stronger relationships.
Why we’re asking: utility coordination can either be smooth or a big bottleneck. Knowing what worked will help us improve support.
Why we’re asking: strong supplier relationships can save time and cost. We want to know what worked, as well as what was difficult.
Think about the “nuts and bolts” of delivering the works, from surveys to completion.
Why we’re asking: some properties are straightforward, others are tricky. Sharing both good practice and challenges helps future projects plan better.
Why we’re asking: good planning can reduce disruption and speed things up. We want to share what approaches worked best.
Why we’re asking: preparatory work is sometimes expected, sometimes not. Your lessons help others budget and plan properly.
Why we’re asking: compliance is essential, but it can feel like a hurdle. We want to know where processes worked well and where they need improvement.
Why we’re asking: this is where everything comes together. We want to highlight what went well, as well as what was tricky.
Why we’re asking: high‑rise buildings bring extra challenges but also examples of good practice that others can copy.
Reflect on how you managed time, budgets and unexpected issues.
Why we’re asking: contingency is about being prepared. We want to know if you had enough and where extra flexibility made things easier.
Why we’re asking: fraud prevention is critical to maintaining trust in public funding. We want to understand what risks you encountered, what controls worked well and where improvements are needed. Your insights will help strengthen fraud prevention across the programme.
Why we’re asking: some of the best insights don’t fit into neat boxes, we don’t want to miss those.
Capture insights that will shape your future projects and support wider sector learning.
Why we’re asking: we want to understand how the insights from this wave will shape your future retrofit work. This helps us assess long-term impact and support continuity across projects.
Why we’re asking: regional sharing helps spread good practice and avoid repeated mistakes. We want to know how lessons are being shared locally and what support might help.
Why we’re asking: your experience may have shifted your approach to retrofit. Understanding this helps us align future guidance with real-world learning.
Why we’re asking: we want to track how delivery experience affects confidence in long-term goals. Your rating and explanation will help us identify areas needing more support or clarity.
Once you’ve thought about these prompts:
